Railroad-crossing frog.



M. J. WALSH.

RAILROAD GROSSING FROG.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY s, 1908.

Patented Oct. 27, 1908.

mvsnrron. dmozw ww UNITED STARS! MICHAEL J. WALSH,

RAILROAD-CRO$SING FROG.

Specification of Letters l-eitent.

' To all whom it may concern: l

Be it known that 1, MICHAEL J. \VALsn, a l resident of Pittsburg. in the county oi Allel gheny and State oi Pennsylvania, have invented a. new and useful Improvement in i Railroad-Crossing Frogs; and I do hereby i declare the following t he a full, ('lear, and i exact description thorert. 1

My invention relates to st root var erossing frogs, its object being to provide a frog in l which the main track is continuous while the l top face of the frog is on praetirally the level l and there is but little jurnp tor the wheel on the auxiliary track crossing the main trunk. l

While givlng in the O1(lil'ifl1" V street car tracks crossings 2 are often made over the main track hy trarhs Which have relatively little use but the e racks are generally formed; Where the grooves of all the tracks in the frog are made of practically the same depth and all i the Wheels passing over any frog have to l jump the groove or re'eess of the track oross- 1 ing the same, imparting jars to the cars and leading to large wear and hrealrage of the 1 Wheel t ead and -langes and to large wear of the frogs themselves, even thouglrmacle of especially hard metal.

lBv the present invention I am enabled to provide a. frog with a continuous main track, so doing away with all jars on the main line little or no jar to the wheels of the car crossing said track.

To these ends the invention eonsistsin a frog having a substantially level. top tar-e l and one continuous unbroken track groove, 1 and track grooves on both sides of and leadi ing toward but terminating short of the I main groove at the crossing point thereof, l such by the employment. of inclines adjacent to the main track adapted to raise the Wheel to the level of the top thereof so that the Wheel travels on the top face of the frog and is only required to jump over the groove of the main track.

In the accompanying: drawing; a top or plan view of a track em' 'iloying my invention; Fig.5. 2 is a. cross section along the i l rare 1 is line of-the crossing track at 2 -2 Fig. 4-. F 13 3 bodying the invention and 1 1g. 4- is another plan View of a simple traelcorossing embodying my invention. The frog is generally of the ordinary construction for street railways having the body 3 is a. perspective view of a frog eml l l l portion 1, in which the ends of the difii'ereut l routinuonsly aeross rails are seated, for example, the

the rails 4i, 5 of the of the niain track and ATENT onrien.

OE PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG'NOR OE ONE-HALF TO FRITZ UHLENHAUT, OF PITTSBURG; PENNSYLVANIA.

Patented Oct. 27', 1908.

rails 2, 3

crossing tracks, the ends of these different rails being seated in the body 1 of the frog in the usual way. To

main casting of form the wearing, surface of the frog I employ the hardened steel. plate (3 which is seated and held in a regular seat formed therefor in the frog casting. being perinaneatly held therein hy llahloitt metal-or the like. Extendirng' through and in line with the groove 4' forming a continurih 9 on one side and the rih ll) on the other inelosinp; said groove groove 8 said frog plate 6 in the rails so that the wheel on' the main line will travel across said frog. the top lat on the same level, and iliary tracks, such. to connect the rails 4-,

from the main track As shown in the drawing tar-e ll of the frog is substantially and to form the any for example, as the track 5 the grooves 12, 13

extend into the frog; vfor any desired length but terminate short of the main groove 8,

for exan'iple, having the inclines I l-leading up to the top of the from the grooves 12, 13

tron, that is. the top of the rib 9 on one side and of the rib 10 on groove, so. that the the track 3 passes lifted gradually up into the the other sidoof the mainwheel in travehng along groove 12 and is onto the top face ll of the frog and passes over the flat face thereof to the edge of: the groove 8 of the main track, jumping; the 'same and then passing down the opposite l3 and continuing: along the track 4.

crossing tracks are arranged the main track either at. nght angle. CIOSSHIQ angles or as is usually the more or less aeuteness.

A; simple form of the invention is illustrated in the frog 16 where there having' the eontinuthe main unbroken lraek and the crossing grooves 18, 19 leadhas ll1e.inelines 20 single crossing, the Frog ous groove 1? forming ing into the frog Whion leading up to the flat top face If} so that the Wheel can pass and ump the main gg roove,

surilied.

incline into the groove These in any. desired case. at. nngles of only a 21 of the frog over the same as above dol /hen the invontioi'i' is in use a continuous unln'oken traek is provided for the main line of cars. and they pass Jill whatever. traveling in rails and lrog, providing the frog; with no the groove of the perfectly smooth 110 travel, While the wheels in the track crossing the main track are subjected to no jar except for the width of the groove forming the main track, which at right angles is usually about inches, though atother angles is, of course, somewhat increased. This jump over said groove is, however, the only shock received in passing the frog and as it is only encountered in cars traveling on tracks little used not important. \Vhere the tracks cross at other than a right angle it is of course evident that when the wheel is traveling on the top fare of the frog and is unt'onfined in a groove, the corresponding wheel on the other end of the axle is traveling in a groove so that the car cannot oil the track. \Vhere the crossing is at a right. angle the momentum of the car will carry both wheels over the top face ofthe t'mg. as has been shown by practical use. ln vase the crossing track subsequently bec mes the main track, it is only necessary to remove the hardened top plate of the frog and replace it with another plate having the proper grooves and inclines.

By-the inventi ni I am enabled to over- (onto more than halt ot' the jars encountered .u an ordinary lrog, and in addition to eliminating the jarring to the tar, to reduce the wear on the frog, largely extending its life, and also to do away with large breakage of wheels consequent to the continual ban'nnering blows upon the flanges and treads caused by the jumping of the grooves in the ordinary frogs.

What I claim is:

l. A railway trog having a substantially fiat upper face, one continuous track groove extending across the same, and grooves on both sides leading toward but terminating short of the main groove.

2. A railway frog having a substantially flat upper face, one continuous track groove either side leading thereto but terminating the flat face of the frog in crossing the same. In testimony whereof I the said MICHAEL J. VALSH have l'iereunto set. my hand.

MICHAEL J. wi-iLsi-i.

'itnesses Ronnu'r C. T o'rrnN. J. R. KELLER.

extending across the same, and grooves 011' short of the lnain groove, said grooves haV-- and providing for the travel of the Wheel on 

